M231
"Added an M231 Port Firing Weapon (aka troll gun with no stock). Features unusable iron sights and insane DPS with uncontrollable recoil. WARNING: '''Do not buy this gun/do not regret it if you do', it is only meant for high ranks who have already reached this level and have nothing better to do with their time." - Game description The M231 Firing Port Weapon is a powerful, high recoil Assault Rifle in Phantom Forces. It is unlocked at Rank 123 or can be purchased with Credits (CR), and has the highest rank unlock in-game. The weapon in-game is based off a variant likely related to the Rock Island Arsenal XM231, before the M231's high rate of fire was limited for safety and efficiency reasons, during development. History The '''M231 FPW' was designed after the necessity to fulfil a weapon requirement in the Mechanised Infantry Combat Vehicle (MICV) program that would accompany the weapon. The Rock Island Arsenal worked with the World War 2-era M3 submachine gun, another FPW based on the HK33, and an adapted AR-15/M16-pattern weapon before deciding that the last weapon had promising qualities and was given the designation XM231. Colt was given the contract for the weapon and continued working on the design, and the weapon was finalised in 1979 and adopted as the M231 The original Rock Island Arsenal XM231 fired from an open bolt, giving the weapon a deadly rate of fire of 1050 RPM (Rounds Per Minute). After Colt received the design, a special buffer and spring assembly limited the rate of fire to 200 RPM, thereby eliminating the risk that users would expend their ammunition before their weapon was brought to target. At some point during development, the weapon's deadly firing rate was reintroduced at the 1100-1200 RPM range. Officially, the M231 is not to be detached from its parent vehicle unless in emergency, and the operator's manual warns of precautions that would have to be taken when using the weapon outside the vehicle. In-game, this rule is clearly broken. In-game The M231 FPW (Firing Port Weapon) is a powerful, high recoil assault rifle added in the Phantom Forces Beta. It is found in the Assault Rifle weapon tab, in the Assault class. Damage and Range The M231 is a hard hitting weapon. It is capable of killing a full health enemy to the head with just 3 shots to the head, and can kill in 3 hits anywhere until 100 studs. At 150 studs of range, the M231 will do the lowest damage. Nonetheless, it can still kill a full health enemy in 3 shots to the head. However, it will take 4 shots to the body kill a full health enemy at 101 studs of range and beyond. Recoil and Other General Information The M231 has very high vertical recoil, medium horizontal recoil, medium/low backwards/blowback recoil, and medium visual/camera recoil. "The M231 is very powerful, deadly at close range, and requires some serious compensation without any attachments. Due to the high ROF, they gave the M231 150 rounds in reserve. With this in mind, if the recoil can be tamed, it can become a very efficient killing machine that is literally impossible to beat. Despite the high damage qualities mentioned above, the M231, again, has '''very' high vertical recoil, which means that in order to compensate for recoil, one has to aim much lower than where they plan to hit. Attachments can aid in giving the user slightly better control over the recoil of the M231. But most can barely, if not at all, decrease the vertical recoil, however, they can still aid in lowering all other types of recoil the weapon has. Lasers can prove to be very valuable attachments, as they prove to be a valuable substitute for optics and a temporary fix for the M231's lack of iron sights. Tactics also own a major effect to efficienty. A very good tactic consist to use the M231's recoil to line up at target. In this skill's principle, when the recoil cause the bullet to aim at screen's top, the target is located directly on this recoil range, exposed to multiple accurate shots. If you use this, use the default sight instead of VCOG : The simplicity and the lack of aiming point confer a generous view angle which don't obstruct the aiming. General optics are not really recommended because the M231's vertical recoil composes more of a diagonal climb than a straight upward climb; which obstructs the reticles of said optics. Another very useful attachment is the VCOG, since most sight reticles get obstructed by the vertical recoil, the VCOG; as a scope, stands as an exception, not only does it decrease vertical recoil, but allows users to take advantage of the M231's low damage dropoff, and high damage, in order to tap fire at longer ranges. If one wishes to tap fire easier; without firing multiple rounds accidentally. The user can switch the firing mode to Semi Automatic. Finally , some players ( including a well known youtuber , AgentJohn2 ) have experimented with sucess the possibility to lower recoil with canted sights . So you care of VCOG's benefices but need CQB aim zoom , pick up canted sights . If you also care with laser, just add the underbarrel's laser. BT is not recommended as you're generally not aiming for headshots plus you're also never hipfiring at all, so spotting (or tagging) is a great alternative. Do note that, an unskilled user will find themselves burning lots of ammunition with little return in terms of kills; albeit rather quickly, if the user doesn't know how to tame the recoil. Suppressors can help a small bit in reducing/softening the recoil, but since the recoil difference is not much different, suppressors are generally not recommended because they can hinder the high damage qualities of the M231. Overall, the M231 can be considered a "decent" weapon, it's fun to use, and if one learns to tame the recoil, they will be rewarded heavily by the M231's high damage, but it's hard to use the M231 like a conventional assault rifle, which is why using it in Semi Automatic as a de-facto DMR can be more effective. The high recoil can also increase a user's skill in compensating for recoil. Overall it's basically a Colt SMG 635 with a higher RoF and a lot more recoil. This can also be useful on Base Luna similarly to the aforementioned weapon if you can succesfully land all shots (or at least most of them). Pros and Cons Pros: * Very high overall damage and DPS (Damage Per Second). * Has second highest ROF in-game, with the Tec-9 beating it, at a rate of fire of 1500, but the M231 has the highest RoF (Rate of Fire) on a primary weapon. * Very small general damage drop-off. Sees usability at long range, as sort of an emulated marksman rifle. * With a VCOG, it not only reduces the recoil but it also allows the rifle to act as a DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle). * Good hipfiring ability, if one doesn't wish to try and compensate for the recoil. * Fast Reload similar to the M4, which can allow a user to quickly get back in fights, making it more new user-friendly. * The M231 is compatible with many guns . When you have no more ammo, it is easy to find a dropped compatible gun and getting 150 rounds in a matter of seconds . Cons * Extremely high vertical recoil. * Vertical recoil can obstruct reticles of almost, if not every optic, except for the VCOG. * Very high camera recoil/shake. * No iron sights. * Due to the rate of fire, one will have to aim ~ 35/45 degrees lower to hit an enemy. * Fast RoF can force frequent reloads for a user that cannot control ammunition wastage. * lower-than-average bullet speed for the Assault Rifle class, at 2,200 studs/s instead of the usual 2,500 studs/s. Trivia * The " Troll gun " is only a nickname brought by the Stylis Studio leaders and never really confirmed it was uncontrollable . A real troll gun is supose to be useless by EVERYONE ( High Ranks and very High Ranks include ) . If someone proof its controllable , its no longer a troll gun . And currently , some Fandom members ( alongside many players ) tamed it and demonstrated the Stylis Studio leaders were wrong . A fews even killed at over 150 studs , but rare are those who are in the community . * This weapon is currently the second fastest firing weapon in the game, the first being the TEC-9. * The recoil of the M231 is very high, can be barely reduced via attachments. VCOG is recommended since it lowers the overall vertical recoil. * In real life, the M231 only has one fire mode, fully automatic. * It is the only M4/M16 platform weapon in-game not to have a rear or front iron sight. * Real life instructions urge users NOT to use the M231 handheld and only use it when it is mounted on the M2 Bradley. The game clearly breaks this rule. * The M231 can take ammo from an RPK and RPK74, for some reason. * Although classified as an assault rifle in-game, it is officially classified as a sub-machine gun. http://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-9-1005-309-23-and-P.pdf * The M231 appears to have silver embellishments, as opposed to the black embellishments on the Honey Badger and the dark grey embellishments on the other M4/M16 family guns. This could be due to the fact the M231 is unlocked at an extremely high rank, so the silver color of the embellishments are likely to commemorate such prestige.